[quote=klozhald]There are multiple factors for sailing community shrinkage in the US:
We can start with the national congress. They passed a huge tax in 1990 on any sailboat over $100,000, and in two year's time most American shipyards had [u]closed, filed bankruptcy, or moved/sold overseas[/u]. Congress had priced them out of business. "In 1991, sales of luxury boats dropped 70 percent from 1990's level, while overall boat sales fell 18 percent." NYTimes (Also Washington Post)
The repeal of this destructive tax was completed in a glorious bi-partisan vote, but was too little too late. With the departure of the large sailboat industry/community, so went all major support for sailing here at all levels. NACRA (aka the [b]North American[/b] [b]C[/b]atamaran [b]R[/b]acing [b]A[/b]ssociation) moved to Europe and Australia.
Rising oil prices and the EPA pounding the fiberglass and paint industries closed off the small boat makers. The EPA even went after the styrofoam industry, and targeted Clark Foam (a $40 million company) specifically into extinction.
Inflation? Hardly. If you bought a cat new in 1988 for US$2100, inflated costs now would be only $4,620. The cost of the materials have skyrocketed, and the newer materials (carbon fiber) are even more expensive to engineer and utilize. Even the bare bones roto-molded cats start at $5000. A new NACRA 500 is $12,000. Add a trailer, insurance, safety equipment... it will cost as much as a brand new car (Chevy Spark)! It has become an [i]expensive[/i] sport.
To paraphrase Will Rogers, "I'm happy that we don't get as much Congress as we pay for." I am not arguing any party politics here. I'm just an angry victim of national policy dictated by morons who are completely capable of destroying entire industries.[/quote]
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